


May All Your New Year’s Dreams Come True

by Wayhaughtterthanthat



Series: It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year [2]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, New Years Eve party, New Year’s Eve, Sequel, Shorty’s, Waverly sings, Wynonna is back, holiday au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22017649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayhaughtterthanthat/pseuds/Wayhaughtterthanthat
Summary: After meeting in an airport two days before Christmas, and spending Christmas together as fake girlfriends, Nicole and Waverly both realize they don’t want to be without each other.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Series: It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1578109
Comments: 25
Kudos: 411





	May All Your New Year’s Dreams Come True

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for all the love on ‘This Christmas.’ ❤️ Here’s a little follow up on what happened after Christmas with these two love birds 😊

It’s been almost a week since the last time Nicole saw Waverly in person, but they’ve spent the majority of their free time communicating in one way or another. Her family still asks about her daily, and when they FaceTime, the kids usually steal her phone to talk to Waverly instead. 

The day after Christmas, when Nicole had returned home to her family after dropping Waverly off at the airport, she immediately felt like something was missing. Was it possible to fall so hard for someone so fast? Whatever the answer to that question may be, she knows in her heart how she feels about the woman that she met just before Christmas. 

Thoughts of the first time they ever met roll through her mind on repeat as she enters the airplane, looking above the seats for seat 12A. The people are slow moving in front of her as they find room for their bags in the overhead compartments before taking their seats below. 

When she reaches her seat, she finds an empty row but she’s sure that won’t last long. She gets as comfortable as possible in the seat, which is hard due to the length of her legs, before pulling her seatbelt across her lap and fastening it tightly. 

She pulls out her headphones, preparing herself for the next couple of hours on the plane. She doesn’t put them on her ears yet. Instead, she finds herself focusing on the people around her. She’s not trying to eavesdrop, but she picks up on where a few people are headed. 

She hears one family discussing their trip, indicating they’re heading back home for New Years. She hears a man on the phone talking to who she assumes is a significant other, telling them that he can’t wait to see them too. She feels kids kicking the back of her seat and sighs at the thought of that making the flight feel longer than it actually is. 

“Let me guess,” a voice comes from beside her, breaking her from her thoughts. Nicole turns to see a woman who can’t be too much older than her, now sitting next to her. She has wavy brown hair that falls past her shoulders, dimples on both cheeks and a strangely familiar charm about her that she can’t quite put her finger on. 

“Huh?” Nicole asks. 

“You’re traveling home after spending obligated family time with your parents in the house you grew up in,” the woman continues. 

Nicole gives her a confused look. Does she know her and can’t remember? “Not quite,” She corrects her. Part of that might be true, but she’s not on her way home yet. Not before making an important pit stop. 

“Okay,” the woman says. “Going home now to spend family time after Christmas?” She asks as she reaches down, sliding a backpack under the seat in front of her. 

Nicole laughs and shakes her head. “Going to see someone important to me.” 

“Vague,” the woman huffs, leaning back into the seat as she pulls her seatbelt out from underneath her. She looks at it for a moment, but just shrugs at it instead of actually fastening it around her waist.

Nicole isn’t sure how to take this woman. Usually when she’s on an airplane she likes to plug in some headphones and drown out the world around her. She doesn’t usually have people trying to chat her ear off. 

“You’re persistent,” she says with a laugh.

“I’m bored,” the woman says with a shrug of her shoulders. 

Nicole laughs. “Then why don’t you tell me where you’re headed?”

“Because your story is probably much more interesting than mine. I’m just heading home,” she tells her. “Not much of a story there.”

“Everybody has a story,” Nicole argues. The brunette leans over in her direction for a moment, staring her down. Nicole isn’t sure what she’s about to do or say. “Okay,” Nicole says, giving in. “I’m going to see my girlfriend. Well, she’s not exactly my girlfriend. Not yet.” 

“Ah, a longing distance thing?” The brunette asks, leaning back into her seat more and out of Nicole’s personal space. 

“Sort of,” Nicole responds. The truth is, they haven’t really talked about what it is or isn’t yet. All she knows is what she wants it to be. 

“So, you’ve gotten on a plane to go see a long distance girl that may or may not be your girlfriend?” The woman asks like she’s trying to understand the full story. “Man, you’re hot too, can’t find anyone local to shag?”

“Well, I’m not sure that I can say it’s just about shagging,” Nicole laughs, using air quotes around the word ‘shagging’. 

“But that part must be good if you’re traveling far enough that you need to be on an airplane,” the brunette challenges her. 

“That part is good,” Nicole finds herself saying rather quickly. She thinks for a moment about the feeling of Waverly’s hands on her body as if she’s painting her every detail in a way no one ever has before. “It’s very good. But that’s not-” 

“Ha! I knew it!” The brunette snorts, pointing a finger in her direction. 

“That’s not all it is,” Nicole quickly finishes her sentence. 

“But I mean, you can’t tell me you’re not flying in, hoping to at least get a little something something,” the woman says, raising her eyebrows in a suggestive way. 

Nicole sighs. Okay, she has to admit, ever since their time together on Christmas Eve, she can’t stop thinking about Waverly in that way. But it’s not all she wants out of spending time with her, she’s be happy just to be around her at this point. 

“It wouldn’t hurt,” she admits. 

The conversation is soon interrupted by the flight attendant announcement that they would be talking off soon. Nicole finds herself only half listening to the safety instructions, something that she has heard so many times. She feels the plane start to move on the ground below them and she braces herself for takeoff. 

She’s become fairly accustomed to flying over the past few years, but takeoff and landing still never make her feel very comfortable. She finds herself gripping the arms of the seat as the plane lifts from the ground and makes its way into the air. 

“So is this like a big surprise thing or is she waiting in the other airport for you?” The woman sitting next to her chimes in again, distracting her from her irrational fears for a moment. 

“It’s a surprise,” she tells her. “She doesn’t know I’m coming.”

“Where does she think you are while you ignore her text messages while in flight?” The woman challenges her. “Imagine what images are flashing through her mind about who you could be with. Like some hot girl you just met on a plane,” the woman laughs, nudging Nicole in the ribs with her elbow. 

Nicole stops for a moment, suddenly worried that Waverly is going to think she’s ignoring her while she’s on the flight. In her head, she’s thought of some stupid excuses about playing games with the kids, but now she fears Waverly will ask to talk to the kids as well. Maybe this was a bad idea. 

“Wow, relax there, Red,” the woman snorts out another laugh. Nicole assumes she can feel her nerves coursing through her. “Like someone would fall for someone they just met!”

Nicole’s eyes widen a bit and she hopes that the brunette doesn’t notice. She lets out an awkward laugh, nodding her head in agreeance. “Yeah, totally,” she says. “But I mean, if you knew her, you’d understand,” she tries to explain. 

“Yeah, yeah, love at first sight, fairytales are real,” the woman huffs, rolling her eyes in Nicole’s direction. “Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll be jumping with joy when she sees you,” she tells her, her tone is much softer and more genuine now. “Get yourself a nice midnight smooch, unless you’re dating Cinderella,” she says with a wink.

Nicole laughs and shakes her head at the woman. She’s still a little thrown off at how easy is was to fall into conversation with her, and finds her a little odd, but she doesn’t mind the company. It’s sure making the flight go by faster. 

“What about you?” she asks.

“What about me, Red?” The woman asks. “You want to kiss me at midnight now?” she asks, sarcastically, throwing her head back a little as she laughs. 

Nicole laughs. “No,” she responds, receiving a very dramatic gasp from the woman sitting next to her. 

“Damn, this girl must be really hot,” the woman says. 

Nicole laughs and nods in agreement. Waverly is really hot. That’s something she’s never going to deny. But she can’t help but laugh at the level of interest this complete stranger has in her love life. Why was she even asking her all these questions in the first place?

“She is,” Nicole says. “But I meant, what about you as in, where’s home for you?” she asks.

“Lately, it’s been wherever I find a place to sleep,” the woman tells her. “But I’m sure you mean where am I headed. I like to call it hell, but I guess it’s not quite that far,” she laughs. 

“Do you ever answer anything seriously?” Nicole questions her. The brunette leans forward a bit in her seat so she can angle her body toward the redhead. 

“Who says I’m not being serious?” The woman asks, narrowing her eyes at Nicole. Nicole pauses for a moment, unsure of how to read her in this moment. She sees a smile slowly form across the brunette’s lips, helping her ease the sudden tension building inside of her.

“But anyway, I’m going to need you to stop chatting my ear off now so I can get a little beauty sleep,” the woman says as she slides a pair of headphones over her ears and leans back in her seat, closing her eyes. 

Nicole stares at her for a moment, a little dumbfounded by the entire interaction. She shakes her head a little and puts her own headphones over her ears, turning on music. She closes her eyes, hoping the rest of the flight goes by quickly so she can be back in Waverly’s arms again soon. 

  
  


|

  
  


Waverly slides a blue and red shirt over her head, with the name ‘Shorty’s’ in big, blue letters, outlined in white, across her chest. She gives herself a quick once over in the bathroom mirror of the apartment above her aunt’s bar that she has been staying in. 

She’s not super pleased with her appearance, she thinks she looks like she could have gotten a better nights sleep. Truthfully, she hasn’t slept that well since she’s been home. She misses the warmth of having another person next to her, one person in particular, which is something she didn’t think she’d ever depend on. 

She rubs her fingers through the soft, brunette waves of her hair, fixing it the best she can. She doesn’t think there’s any more she can do about the bags under her eyes, showing the rest of the world her lack of sleep, but she’s not too worried about that. There’s only one person she would want to impress tonight, and she’s not there. 

On her way out the door, she picks up her cellphone from the table in the kitchen, checking to see if she has any missed messages. Disappointed in the lack of communication that she’s had with Nicole throughout the day, she lets out an audible sigh before descending down the stairs and into the bar. 

The step creeks as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she pauses for a moment, taking in the peace and quiet of the empty bar that she knows won’t last long. It’s New Year’s Eve and it won't be long before the bar is packed full of a bunch of drunk townies, hoping to get a little action as they ring in the new year. 

There’s a sudden sound of boxes crashing in the back room and Waverly moves quickly in that direction. “Gus?!” She calls out as she pushes through the swinging doors. 

“I’m fine,” the grey haired woman responds, peeking her head out from behind a stack of boxes. “Just looking for the extra napkins,” she says, pulling another box down before dropping it to the ground next to her. 

“Can I help?” Waverly asks. She makes her way over to where her aunt is, surrounded by boxes, and pulls open the flaps, looking inside. 

“Thanks, darling,” Gus says with a soft smile. They dig through a few more boxes before they finally find what they’re looking for. “Thanks for helping me out tonight also,” her aunt adds. 

“There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing on New Year’s Eve,” Waverly tells her, smiling back at the woman, only to receive an unbelieving look in return. 

“Now, we both know that’s not true,” Gus says with a laugh. 

“I don’t mind helping,” Waverly assures her as she pulls a stack of napkins from the box, turning toward the bar. 

“I know that, dear, but that doesn’t mean there aren't other things on your mind,” Gus says. The woman follows her back into the bar, carrying a stack of napkins as well. 

“Am I that transparent?” The brunette sighs as she stocks the napkins behind the bar. Moving on to check the bottles, seeing what needs to be restocked. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Gus asks. 

Waverly feels the woman’s hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop moving around behind the bar and turn toward her. She offers her aunt a soft smile and a shrug. “I’m not sure that’ll make it any better,” she admits. 

“Is this about a certain someone you spent Christmas with?” Her aunt asks, raising an eyebrow to her.

Waverly lets out another audible sigh as she takes a seat on one of the bar stools. She’s still a little surprised that her aunt was so understanding about the entire situation. Not that she’s really been a judgemental person, but Waverly hasn’t spent much time letting her into her personal life. That may have had to do with the fact that Waverly hasn’t had much of a dating life, or one that she found worthy of discussing with anyone else. 

She laughs as her aunt pours her a soda and slides it across the bar at her. “It’s just that I’ve barely heard from her today, I know that’s stupid, I shouldn’t expect for her to always talk to me,” the brunette says as she takes a sip of the drink. 

“Your feelings aren’t stupid, Waverly,” the woman says, rather sternly. “And perhaps she’s just with her family that you loved spending time with also,” she suggests, pointing a finger in her direction.

“I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to be here. I love spending time with you too,” Waverly tells her aunt. 

“Oh, I know that, dear,” the woman laughs. “But it’s also okay to go after what  _ you  _ want sometimes too, you know?” 

“You don’t think it’s crazy?” Waverly questions. 

It’s something she’s been trying to process since she made it back to Purgatory after Christmas. She often wonders if things will be the same when she sees Nicole again. If she sees her again. They talk about the day they can be together again, but the practical side of her still has her doubts. 

“Love,” Gus says, placing her hand over her niece’s hand on top of the bar. “In any form,” she adds. “Might feel crazy, but it’s still love just the same.” 

Waverly pauses, listening to the words come out of her aunt’s mouth. It still feels crazy to think about feeling love for someone she just met not too long ago. Maybe she’s not actually crazy. Maybe her feelings are real and Nicole coming into her life is exactly what she’s been missing. 

“So how do I not feel crazy when she doesn’t text me back?” She groans dramatically, laughing at how ridiculous she’s being. 

“That part I don’t think I can help you with,” Gus laughs. She taps Waverly on the hand before continuing to prepare the bar for the night. “That’s one of the perks of having feelings,” she teases, giving Waverly a wink. 

Waverly lets out another groan, dropping her face to the bar for a moment before sliding off of the barstool to continue to help her aunt finish preparing for the night. 

  
  


|

  
  


Nicole finally opens her eyes when she feels the plane descending from the air. She wishes she could sleep all the way through the landing, but she’s not that lucky. She removes her headphones from her ears, tucking them away in her bag. 

She notices the woman next to her begin to move as well. She reaches across Nicole, sliding up the shade on the window that’s next to her. Nicole leans back, attempting to regain some of her personal space that the brunette is now occupying as she looks out the window. 

“Am I in your way?” Nicole jokes, turning her head towards the brunette. 

“Nah,” the woman says. She leans back into her own seat again. “Just wanted to see how close to the ground we are.” 

Nicole nods as she turns her head to look out the window. She’s just in time to see the ground becoming closer and closer. She closes her eyes and braces herself for the impact as the wheels come out and the plane bounces slightly before it glides smoothly across the pavement. 

After the plane is taxied to the terminal, she turns her phone back on, checking for messages that she might have missed. Her phone lights up a few times when her messages come through. She received a couple from her mother, wishing her a safe flight and reminding her to let them know when she landed. She sends a quick reply letting her know that she’s on the ground and waiting to depart the plane. 

She also received a few text messages from Waverly asking about her day and telling her that she misses her. Her heart aches at the thought of leaving her hanging for the past couple of hours, but she hopes that she forgives her when she sees her later. 

“How’s that hot chick of your’s?” The woman next to her asks, leaning over her shoulder like she’s trying to read her phone.

Nicole turns her phone away from the woman who clearly has zero boundaries. “She’s good,” she replies generically. She doesn’t look up at the woman, instead she focuses on her phone, typing out a text to Waverly. 

She quickly received another text, not long after she replies, bringing a smile to her face. 

“She sending you nudies or something?” The woman chimes in again. Nicole tries to ignore her at first, unsure why she’s so interested in what she’s doing still. 

“Something like that,” she replies when she realizes she isn’t really going to be able to get away from the woman until they’re off of the plane and finally going in totally different directions. 

“Boo bear?” The brunette asks, snorting out a laugh, as she arched her neck to see Nicole’s phone screen light up again. 

“It’s a joke, she put it in there like that-” 

She stops talking, wondering why she feels the need to explain herself to this stranger. She looks up, making brief eye contact with her before shaking her head, eyes returning to her phone to finish her response. 

“You sure you guys haven't been together for years?” The brunette asks. Nicole can see the smug looks she’s receiving out of the corner of her eyes. 

“Is that what happens in relationships after years of being together?” Nicole retorts, locking her phone screen and sliding it into her pocket. 

“How the hell would I know?” The woman huffs. “I don’t waste my time on relationships,” she says using air quotes around the word ‘relationships.’ 

Nicole laughs. “Of course,” she says as if she should have already figured this out by now. She feels her phone vibrate in her pocket, but the seatbelt lights turn off and the entire plane starts to shift. She makes a mental note to look at her message after she departs the plane and makes her way into the airport. 

On her way down the tunnel into the airport, she feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see the brunette woman smiling back at her. 

“It was nice chatting with you,” the woman says to Nicole. Nicole smiles and agrees. It might have been one of the strangest experiences she’s ever had on a plane, but hey, she did also meet a wonderful woman in the airport on her way home for Christmas so talking to strangers hasn’t always been a bad thing for her. 

“Happy new year!” The redhead says back to her, giving her a wave.

“Hope you go get that New Year’s kiss,” the brunette says, giving her a wink before she turns in the opposite direction of Nicole. 

Nicole smiles to herself at the thought of kissing Waverly at midnight. She pulls her phone out of her pocket, noticing she has a few more texts from the brunette explaining that she and her aunt have been setting up the bar, getting it ready for the town’s New Year’s Eve party. 

Apparently her aunt’s bar is the only one in town, making it the go to spot on New Year’s Eve. Waverly helps bartend for the night every year due to the amount of people that fill the bar, requiring all the help they can get. 

She wants to call her, but in fear that she’ll ask too many questions and Nicole won’t be able to lie to her, she keeps it strictly to texting. She tries to keep asking Waverly about what’s going on with her day, to avoid having to lie at all about what she’s up to. 

Nicole is relieved when Waverly brings up her sister, afraid to do it herself. Apparently her sister is on her way back into town, but Waverly still says she will believe it when she sees it. For the sake of Waverly, Nicole really hopes her sister makes it home, wherever she may be right now. 

Nicole makes her way toward the exit doors of the airport, pulling her blue beanie over her head, covering her ears before she hits the outdoors. She remembers that Waverly had told her the weather at home was cold, but she doesn’t really understand just how cold until the moment she leaves the airport, cold air slapping her so hard in the face that it takes her breath away. 

When she feels like she can actually breathe a little better, she opens the Uber app on her phone, hoping that she’s even able to use it in the area. She knows Waverly lives in a small town, but she’s not quite sure how small. Small towns still have transportation, right? 

She types in the address, hoping for a ride in the area, and is pleasantly surprised when one pops up saying it’s on its way. She waits on the curb of the airport, hoping the car arrives soon so she doesn’t freeze to death before reaching Waverly. 

“Well if it isn’t my new favorite ginger snap!” A voice comes from behind her. She cringes a little, thinking she had escaped the eccentric woman she spent the last few hours next to on an airplane. 

“I guess I just can’t get away from you,” Nicole says through her chattering teeth as she turns toward the brunette. “Headed into town?” She asks.

“I'd rather be on a flight to anywhere else, but I made a promise to someone and I intend on keeping it,” the woman explains. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“We were literally on the same plane, landed in the same place,” the redhead says with a laugh. 

“I know that, Red!” The woman says. “I meant here as in Purgatory. I assumed you were on a layover. No one’s last stop is ever Purgatory!” 

“Well, I guess I’m just full of surprises,” Nicole says with a wink. 

“Your girlfriend is from Purgatory?” The brunette questions her further. “Woof!” She grunts, gut laughter pouring out of her. 

Nicole laughs and shakes her head at the woman. She glances down at her phone, hoping her ride is coming soon. “I can promise she’s definitely easy on the eyes,” the redhead assures her. 

“Whatever you say,” the woman says with another laugh. 

Nicole leans toward a bit to see if she can see the car coming for her. She wonders if it’s the only Uber in the entire area, the map didn’t look too busy. But she also wonders how many people are headed into this town, besides herself and the woman who won’t leave her alone. “I’m beginning to think you’re following me,” she says as she glances back at the woman who now seems to have planted herself on the curb next to her. 

“Don’t flatter yourself, Red, I wouldn’t choose to follow anyone into Purgatory, even if they do have an ass like yours,” the woman replies as she blatantly looks Nicole and down. 

Nicole shifts uncomfortably, glancing behind her for a moment before looking back up at the brunette who’s now laughing. “Thanks, I guess,” Nicole says with a laugh, shrugging her shoulders. 

“So, how about I hitch a ride with you into town?” The woman asks, gesturing down the street in front of them. Nicole hesitates for a moment, but assumes by the persistency that she’s seen so far, she’s not going to quit. 

“Sure,” Nicole agrees. “Going anywhere in particular?” She asks. 

“Anywhere that I can grab some whiskey,” the woman responds. 

“I guess it’s your lucky day then,” Nicole informs her. “I’m headed to the only bar in the area,” she says, assuming the woman has heard of the place if the town is as small as they make it seem.

“You’re headed to Shorty’s?” The woman asks, eyes lighting up for a moment. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard of it,” Nicole says with a laugh. 

The woman nods back at her. “Been there once or twice,” she adds with a smirk. 

  
  


|

  
  


“That should do it,” Gus says as she rotates the last few bottles behind the bar, making the display look perfect before the rush of the night. Waverly admittedly became a little distracted, not too long before this, when she finally received a text back from Nicole. 

“Mmhmm,” Waverly says as if she’s only half listening, her face buried in her phone, a smile plastered on her face. 

“I take it she finally texted you back?” The woman’s voice moves closer and Waverly notices her aunt is now on the other side of the bar, next to her. 

“Huh?” The brunette asks, finally looking up from her phone. “Oh,” she says, feeling her cheeks warm with blush. “Yeah.” 

“Oh, to be young and smitten again,” Gus sighs, smiling back at her niece. 

“You know,” Waverly says, tucking her phone away for a moment. “It’s never too late for love,” she tells her, raising her eyebrows playfully toward the woman. 

Gus let’s out a laugh. “Oh, honey, that ship sailed years ago!” She says, shaking her head. “I’ve had my love, I don’t need to find it anywhere else. Besides, I am not about to start dating at my age!” She lets out another loud laugh. 

“Okay, okay,” Waverly says with a laugh. “I just want you to be happy too,” she tells her. She’s not the only one who puts everyone else before herself. 

“I am happy, dear. I have you, and this bar,” the grey haired woman gestures around her. 

“This bar makes you happy?” Waverly asks. Sure, she does good business, but owning the local saloon, in a small town, where everyone knows your business has never been quite that appealing to Waverly. 

“It keeps me busy,” the woman says, wiping the bar counter with a rag, something Waverly has seen her do a few times already. 

“Fair enough,” Waverly laughs. 

“I also have your sister,” Gus continues. “When she wants to grace us with her beautiful face,” the woman adds.

Waverly laughs. “Have you heard from her?” She asks. She feels like she probably already knows the answer. She continues to try not to get her hopes up about actually getting to see her sister. 

“She says she’s coming,” Gus says. Her tone conveys that she’s also unsure, but Waverly thinks she’s trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. 

“Don’t hold your breath too long,” the brunette says as she stands from the bar stool that she’s been sitting on. 

“She deserves for us to have a little faith in her too,” Gus says.

Waverly sighs. “I’m trying.” 

“But you’re still allowed to feel what you feel,” the woman adds. 

“I know,” Waverly says with a nod. She pauses for a moment, receiving a soft smile from her aunt. “So, I was thinking about singing tonight,” she changes the subject. 

“Yeah?” Gus asks, raising an eyebrow to her. Waverly doesn’t think that the woman doesn’t believe her, but she usually backs out of opportunities like this, so she’s probably weary of it. 

“I think it could be fun,” the brunette says with a smile. She thinks about performing for Nicole’s family, and while that wasn’t as large of a group, she really enjoyed it and wants to try it again. 

“Would be better than the usual town karaoke,” Gus laughs. “But I also couldn’t think of a better way to ring in the new year, only if you’re comfortable,” she reminds her. 

“Thanks, Gus,” Waverly smiles back at her aunt. The door swings open, bringing their attention in that direction. A tall man with a mustache, donning a cowboy hat enters the building. Waverly glances down at the time on her phone. “Doc?” She asks. “You’re early.” 

“I was out giving a ride to someone and I figured I’d hang out here until we open,” the man says, making his way further into the bar. “If that’s alright with you, of course.” 

“Of course, dear,” Gus says with a smile. “Soda?”

The man nods and takes a seat on a stool at the bar. Waverly laughs and shakes her head at the man. “You know, I didn’t think I’d ever see the day where Doc Holliday is driving for Uber,” she says with a laugh. 

“Once you get used to having a cell phone, it’s fairly easy,” the man says, taking a sip of the drink in front of him. 

“I’m surprised there’s even a need for Uber around here,” Gus chimes in. 

“You’d be surprised how many people want to drink where Wyatt Earp drank,” Doc says with a laugh, pointing to the old, faded sign on the wall. 

“I’m still surprised that many people actually know this town exists,” Waverly laughs. “I’m sure they think it’s part of the attraction being chauffeured into town by a guy named Doc Holiday,” she adds, pointing a finger in his direction. She probably thinks she’s more funny than she is. 

“I stick with John Henry,” he says with a small laugh. He glances down at his phone that’s sitting on the bar in front of him as it lights up. “Speaking of,” he says, waving the phone in the air in front of him. “Duty calls.” 

Waverly laughs as she watches the man stand from the bar. He takes another gulp of his soda before sliding the glass back toward Gus and thanking her for the drink. 

“You’re not going on this adventure all night, are you?” Gus asks. Doc usually works at the bar with Gus and Waverly can only imagine how it would go over with her aunt if the man decided on New Year’s Eve, of all nights, that he was going to be driving Uber all night instead. 

“One more pick up and I’m all yours!” The man assures her, putting his hands out in front of him. “I promise,” he adds with a nod of his head, tapping his finger on the brim of his hat. 

“Okay, okay,” Gus says. “Get back soon, we open in two hours!” 

“Yes ma’am,” Doc says as he smiles at the grey haired woman. He offers Waverly a quick wave before he turns to make his way back out into the cold. 

“Uber,” Gus says, shaking her head. 

Waverly breaks out into laughter. Historic or not, she still can’t imagine people wanting to spend their New Year’s Eve in Purgatory, especially if they’re not from there. She can picture other places she’d rather be right now, mostly just with Nicole, but for the sake of her aunt, she can suck it up for the night and make the best of it. 

|

“You sure you actually called for a car?” The brunette asks. Nicole sees her rubbing her gloved hands together. It’s getting darker out, but the area is well lit but the lights outside of the airport. The air temperature has definitely dropped to lower than it was before, and Nicole is trying to move around to keep the feeling in her legs. 

“It says it’s on the way,” Nicole tells her, looking down at her phone again. She zooms in on the map, finally seeing the car driving toward where they’re located. “Looks like it’ll be here in two minutes,” she says. 

“Thank god,” the woman huffs. “Good thing I have a tab at Shorty’s, I’m going to need a double whiskey to start so I can get warm again,” she laughs. 

“How do you have a tab somewhere if you were just on a plane?” Nicole asks, confused. 

“Let’s just say, I know people,” the woman smirks at her. Nicole nods, learning quickly not to question her too much since she seems to always have something witty to say. She has a hard time reading to woman through what appears to be constant sarcasm as well. “What kind of car are we looking for here?” The woman asks, leaning a little further over the curb, down the road. 

“It says it’s a pink Lincoln Continental,” Nicole says. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the woman groans. She stops looking down the road and turns toward the redhead. Nicole looks at her and shakes her head. 

“I know,” she says. “Seems like a weird car to Uber in,” she adds with a laugh. She sees the woman still looks a little more distraught than expected over it. 

“Yeah, not really what I meant,” she huffs. Suddenly Nicole looks up to see a car pulling up to the curb in front of them. 

A very pink car. 

She waves at the man driving the vehicle and opens the back door, sliding inside. She sets her bags in her lap, assuming the woman is going to sit next to her, but instead moves around to the front and climbs in.

“Doc,” she says with another groan. 

Nicole sits quietly as she watches the interaction between the pair. She assumes the woman knows the man due to being from such a small town, but she wonders why she’s so bitter about it being him driving the car. 

“Wynonna Earp?!” the man says, his tone a mixture between excitement and confusion. 

Nicole’s eyes suddenly widen when she hears the woman’s name. She realizes now that she never actually got her name. Why didn’t she ever get her name? Wynonna. Wynonna Earp. As in Waverly Earp? 

Wynonna.

As in Waverly’s older sister.

“In the flesh,” the woman says. “Whoa, Red, you okay back there?” She asks, turning around to see the redhead in the backseat. 

“You gonna be sick back there, ma’am?” The man asks. “I can let you back out if you need.” 

“What?” Nicole asks. “Oh, uh, no, I’m fine,” she says, trying to process everything that’s happened since she boarded her last flight until this moment, right now. 

“Okay then,” the driver says. “Next stop, Shorty’s!” 

Nicole nods, still unsure how to handle the fact that she just spend the majority of her day with Waverly’s sister. She tries tak remember exactly what she told her about what had happened between her Waverly. Did she divulge too much information? 

She tunes out the pair in the front seats as they chat on the way through town. She doesn’t really hear what they’re saying, but she gets weird vibes that they know each other a little more than the fact that they’re from the same place. 

|

After getting everything ready for the night with her aunt, Waverly makes her way back upstairs for a little while, enjoying the calmness of her apartment before the chaos of the night. She sees her guitar sitting in the corner of the room, thinking about the offer she made to her aunt about performing. She begins to think that maybe she made a mistake. Maybe performing in front of the entire town is a terrible idea and she’s not sure what she was thinking. Maybe she can tell Gus that she had a temporary lapse in judgement.

She takes a deep breath and picks up her guitar, sitting down on the couch with it. She strums the strings, humming along to no song in particular. She closes her eyes for a moment and she can see Nicole sitting in front of her. She sees herself back in the Haught family home, singing Christmas songs. She sees Nicole’s parents and siblings in the room with them, the kids dancing along, but mostly she sees the smile on the redhead’s face. She sees her warm, brown eyes, looking back at her like she’s the only person in the world.

Opening her eyes, she’s immediately disappointed that the fantasy is over. She continues playing for a moment, wishing she could transport to wherever Nicole is right now. She thinks about how much easier performing would be if she was able to just focus on Nicole, making the rest of the room disappear around them. 

She stops playing, setting her guitar to the side, and picks up her phone. She sends Nicole a text, telling her that she misses her. She usually tells herself not to be that girl. The girl that constantly tells someone how much she misses them, even if it’s true. She doesn’t want to scare her away, but at the same time, she wants her to know she’s thinking about her. 

She wonders if Nicole is thinking about her. She wonders what she’s doing at this very moment. She wonders how her family is, what the kids are doing. She feels a pain in her chest thinking about how empty she feels without the redhead. She’s still unsure of how she can feel this way when she’s hardly known her for a week, but that doesn’t stop her from feeling the way she does. 

Her phone vibrates and she unlocks it quickly, reading Nicole’s response that tells her that she misses her too. She’s able to push some of the ridiculous doubts she keeps having out of her head for a moment. It’s easy to think that the redhead doesn’t feel the same way about her when they’re not physically together. She finds herself falling into these crazy scenarios where Nicole is off with some other woman now that Waverly has returned home, but feels a little better with every sweet text she receives from the redhead. 

She leans back on her couch, kicking her feet up onto her coffee table. She checks the time to see she still has a little more than an hour before the bar is going to open and she will need to be downstairs. She tries to fight the urge to close her eyes, afraid if she does, she won’t make it downstairs in time and she will leave her aunt hanging. She continues sending texts back and forth with the redhead, each one received causing her heart to swell.

|

The further into the drive they get, the more Nicole wishes she had her headphones at easy access so she could drown out the world for a little while longer, composing herself, thinking about how she’s going to explain all of this to Waverly. She’s nervous that she’s going to be upset with her that she accidentally gave her sister a little too much information, unknowingly. In her defensive, Wynonna asked her all of the questions, she was just an innocent bystander. 

She rubs her face with her hand, wishing the drive could go a little faster so she could finally be with the person she wants to be with. Waverly. She’ll just focus on Waverly, knowing once she sees her everything will be fine. 

“So is my aunt not paying you enough at the bar anymore?” the brunette in the passenger seat asks with a laugh. “Need to drive tourists around town?”

“It keeps me busy,” the man says with a shrug. 

Nicole continues watching out the window as they pull up to an old western looking bar with a sign in the front reading, ‘Shorty’s Saloon.’ Nicole looks around a little bit through the window, taking in the view. Well, there wasn’t much of a view, but she took it all in anyway. 

“So you’re meeting your hot date here?” Wynonna asks as the car comes to a stop, parking out front of the building. 

Nicole nods at her before glancing back at the building that clearly isn’t open for business yet. She didn’t really think through what she was going to do when she finally got to where Waverly was. She knows she’s upstairs in her apartment right now, relaxing before she has to start working. Nicole is a little bummed the brunette has to work for the night, but she’s worth the wait. 

“Well, they’re not open yet,” Wynonna says as they all climb out of the car. Nicole swings her backpack behind her, slinging it over her shoulder before she shuts the car door and turns toward the brunette. “But you can come in with me, if you want.”

“Thanks,” Nicole says with a smile as she follows Wynonna toward the front door of the building. She braces herself as they enter the bar. Part of her hopes that Waverly hasn’t come back downstairs yet, but the other part of her isn’t sure how she is going to get upstairs without her sister asking her too many questions. 

As they enter the building, she immediately sees a grey-haired woman sitting at the bar with a book in her hands. The woman looks up at the sound of the door opening and her eyes widen in surprise. Nicole watches as the woman’s eyes squint slightly as if she can’t believe what she’s seeing. 

“Wynonna?!” the woman calls out. Nicole stands back a little, not wanting to interrupt the moment. She watches as Wynonna holds her arms out like she’s presenting herself to the room.

“It’s me!” she says with a smile on her face. The older woman stands from the bar, making her way over to her niece. She quickly wraps her arms around the brunette, pulling her into a hug. Nicole looks around for a moment, noticing that Waverly isn’t anywhere to be found. She assumes she’s still upstairs. She wonders if she should text her and tell her to come downstairs, but she’s quickly distracted again by Wynonna’s voice breaking her from her thoughts. “You thought I wasn’t going to make it, didn’t you?”

“All that matters is that you’re here,” the woman says with a wink. “Doc, go get Waverly,” she says, gesturing toward the other side of the room. The man nods and moves quickly across the bar until she can’t see him anymore. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” the woman finally asks, looking toward Nicole now.

“I met this tall glass of water on the plane,” Wynonna says, gesturing toward Nicole. Nicole laughs and shakes her head at the woman. “But now I realize that I never got her name,” she adds, pointing a finger toward Nicole. 

Nicole laughs and puts her hand out toward the older woman, shaking her hand. “I’m-” 

“Nicole?!” Waverly’s voice comes piercing through the room, causing the entire group to turn in her direction. Nicole’s heart feels like it’s about to pound out of her chest at the sight of the younger Earp running around her. A smile grows on her face as she opens her arms to the brunette, enveloping her as soon as their bodies come into contact with each other. 

“This is Nicole?” their aunt asks. Nicole nearly forgets that she’s not alone with the brunette as she feels Waverly pull away a little bit. She feels Waverly’s hand slide into her own, fingers lacing together. 

“This is Nicole,” Waverly says, smiling up at the redhead. 

“Wait,” Wynonna says, breaking them from their moment of staring at each other. “You’re here to see my sister?” She asks. Nicole nods, cringing a little when she remembers their conversations from earlier in the day. “My sister is the one who was sending you nudes on the plane?” 

Nicole’s eyes widen as she shoots Wynonna a look. She shouldn’t be surprised. She did learn pretty quickly that Wynonna doesn’t appear to have much of a filter. Nicole nervously looks back at Waverly, gauging her reaction of the situation. 

“Someone was sending you nudes?” the younger Earp asks. Nicole quickly shakes her head, putting her hands up defensively in front of her. 

“Yeah, Waves,” Wynonna says. “Apparently you were,” she snorts out a laugh. Nicole continues to shake her head, wishing the woman would just stop talking. She steals a quick glance at their aunt, who looks just as shocked as she does. 

“No one was sending nudes,” she says, quickly, trying to make it better. 

Wynonna continues laughing and elbows Nicole in the ribs. The redhead cringes, rubbing the spot with her hand. “I’m just kidding!” the old Earp laughs. “You people apparently forgot how to take a joke,” she huffs. 

Waverly moves toward her sister, pushing her. “Wynonna,” she warns, pointing a finger in her direction. 

“Hey, babygirl,” Wynonna says with a smile, putting her hands up in front of her, taking a step back from her sister. “I was just kidding! You’re still happy to see me, right?” she says, grinning back at her. 

Waverly narrows her eyes at her sister, but a smile slowly grows across her face as she pulls her sister into a hug. Nicole stands back, watching the interactions, happy for Waverly that her sister finally made an appearance. When the brunette pulls away from the hug, she turns toward Nicole, smiling at her. A look Nicole has missed since Waverly left after Christmas. 

Waverly takes a step toward Nicole, hands sliding around her waist as she pulls her into a hug. Nicole quickly reciprocates the hug, wrapping her arms tightly around the brunette’s body. “You’re really here?” the brunette asks, sound muffled into Nicole’s jacket. 

“I’m really here,” Nicole says, kissing her on the top of the head. 

“Man, aren’t you excited to see me too?” Wynonna huffs from behind them, breaking them from their moment. Waverly pulls away from the hug and glares at her sister for a moment. 

“I am!” she assures her sister, turning toward her a little. She doesn’t move too far away from Nicole though, wrapping her arms around her stomach from the side. “But also, I-” she says with a smile as she looks back up at Nicole. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna need that story later,” Wynonna says with a laugh. Nicole laughs as she watches Wynonna make her way further into the bar. 

“Gus,” Waverly says, bringing Nicole’s attention back to her. “This is Nicole,” she says as if Gus already knows all about her. She wonders for a moment what Waverly has told her about what happened over Christmas. 

“It’s great to meet you, Nicole,” the grey haired woman says with a smile plastered on her face. 

Nicole shakes the woman’s outstretched hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” she relies. She still feels Waverly’s hand on her side like she doesn’t want to let her go. “I apologize for just showing up, but I hear there’s a pretty epic New Year’s Eve party here tonight.” 

Wynonna bursts into laughter, then looks at Nicole a little more seriously. “Wait, you’re serious?” She asks. 

“It’s not a bad party!” Waverly argues, slapping her sister in the arm. 

Wynonna huffs and shakes her head at her sister. “As long as there’s whiskey, I’m happy!” 

“Fresh out,” Gus teases, giving her older niece a wink. “I’m going to give you two a moment,” she adds as she gestures to Wynonna to follow her toward the bar. 

Wynonna just stares back at her for a moment before she’s being dragged away by the arm by her aunt, causing Waverly and Nicole to laugh. Nicole turns back toward Waverly, wrapping her arms around the brunette again, pulling her close.

“Do you want to go upstairs for a little bit?” Waverly asks, her hands drag down Nicole’s abs, finding a temporary home on her hips. 

Nicole nods. “Taking me home with you already?” She teases. 

Waverly’s cheeks blush through a smile. She doesn’t speak, but nods instead as she pulls the redhead by the hand, leading her to a door in the corner of the room. She tries to take in the sight of the bar before she’s quickly dragged up a set of wooden stairs that creak loudly in places as they make their way up them. 

The door at the top of the stairs is quickly opened by the brunette and she gestures for the redhead to come in. Nicole smiles at the woman before looking around the room a little. She isn’t trying to be nosy, but she’s intrigued at the prestige condition of Waverly’s apartment. She immediately fears that she’s going to think she’s a slob when she sees her apartment. 

Her view of the apartment is quickly cut off by Waverly pressing her lips against Nicole’s. The redhead doesn’t mind the sudden distraction, in fact, it’s something she hasn’t stopped thinking about since she dropped her off at the airport after Christmas. 

She laughs into the kiss as they travel through the apartment, lips still connected. Nicole finds herself pressed against a nearby wall as Waverly’s hand become tangled in her hair on the back of her head. They continue to kiss, almost desperate to be closer to each other, if that is even possible. Nicole’s hands slide around the brunette, pressing flat against her back to pull her closer until their bodies are flush together.

When they finally pull apart, Nicole finds herself gasping for air to refill her lungs. With their foreheads pressed together, the redhead slowly opens her eyes, steadying her breath. She sees a smile growing on the brunette’s face, creeping into her eyes. 

“Hi,” she finally whispers, cutting through the silence of the room. 

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” Waverly admits. She pulls back a little further, hands cupping the redhead’s cheeks. She looks Nicole up and down for a moment as if she’s trying to convince herself that it’s not just a dream. 

“Surprise,” Nicole says with a smile as she puts her hands out like she’s presenting herself to the brunette. 

Waverly giggles in response. “Seriously the best surprise ever!” She says, smile quickly moving up into her eyes. 

Nicole can’t help but lean in, pressing a few kisses against the brunette’s mouth. “I hope you don’t mind that I just showed up,” she says, never really thinking that maybe a surprise visit wasn’t really something Waverly would want. 

“Are you kidding?!” Waverly asks like she’s surprised she would even question it. 

“I know you have to work tonight,” Nicole says, causing Waverly to groan in response. Nicole laughs. “But I just wanted to ring in the New Year with you,” she says. “Ever since you left after Christmas, something has been missing.”

The grin on Waverly’s face grows, making Nicole’s heart swell in her chest. She feels Waverly’s hands slide from her face, pressing flat against her chest, over her heart. “You’re not the only one that’s felt that way,” the brunette admits. “Being back home is nice,” she continues. “But I’ve missed you.”

Nicole smiles back at her. “Well, lucky for both of us, I decided to jump on a plane this morning,” she laughs. “And there’s no one else I’d rather kiss at midnight,” she admits. 

“That can definitely be arranged,” Waverly tells her with a wink. “So you’re also going to have to fill me in about how you met my sister,” she adds. 

Nicole laughs at the thought of her happening to wind up on a plane with Waverly’s sister on her way to visit her. What are the odds, of all of the people traveling on this day, that she would end up next to Wynonna. “Luck, I guess,” she jokes with a shrug of her shoulders. 

Waverly laughs and pushes her playfully. “I’m going to need more details than that,” she says. “But, unfortunately, I’m going to have to go downstairs soon,” she says, looking down at her phone to see the time. 

Nicole nods in agreement. As much as she wishes the brunette could just take the rest of the night off, she understands that she had responsibilities before the redhead decided to hop a plane and surprise her on probably one of the busiest nights of the year at the bar. 

When they make their way downstairs, she sees there are a few other people behind the bar. She assumes these are the other bartenders that have a shift that night. She’s introduced to Beth and Chrissy, who both appear to be friendly and welcoming. She gets a little more of the third degree from Chrissy, who apparently has known Waverly their entire lives and seems to be a bit overprotective of her. Nicole doesn’t mind though, the thought of people protecting Waverly makes her feel more comfortable. 

When they finally open, it doesn’t take long for the bar to fill with people. Music plays in the background, some people play pool and darts, while others sit around and socialize with other patrons. Nicole takes a seat at the bar, giving herself a nice view of Waverly as she hustles back and forth behind the bar, taking drink orders as they come in.

As the night goes on, she notices a man sitting at the end of the bar, just around the corner from where she is sitting. He’s a young man, probably not much younger than her, with sandy brown hair and a muscular build. She notices tattoos down his arms that catch her eye and she finds herself staring at them for a moment. 

Her eyes drift to his face after a few moments, realizing he is staring in front of him with a dopey grin on his face. She looks in the direction of his gaze, noticing Waverly bending over behind the bar to pick something up. Nicole feels fire coursing through her veins for a moment, but takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. 

She quickly tells herself she can’t jump down some random strangers throat for looking at something she too finds herself staring at. She watches as Waverly makes her way to the end of the bar, taking the man’s drink order. 

Nicole tries to arch her neck a little to hear the conversation between the pair, but the several other sounds in the bar makes it difficult for her to make out every word that’s being said. She does, however, read Waverly’s facial expressions as she scoffs at the man before turning away to make his drink. 

Nicole quickly realizes that this man is most likely the rodeo star Waverly was telling her about when they were at her parents’ house. She leans in towards him a little before she speaks. 

“You must be Champ.” 

The man looks up at her, finally taking his eyes off of Waverly’s ass. He gives her a smug look that honestly gives her the creeps. “It depends who's asking,” he says with a smirk.

“Just a rodeo fan,” Nicole lies, hoping to keep his attention off of Waverly for as long as humanly possible. 

“Oh,” he replies, scooting forward in his seat a little. He takes a swig of what’s left of the beer that’s in front of him. “Well, that’s me. All time champ, if you will,” he laughs at his own joke.

Nicole cringes internally, unsure of why Waverly would even try giving this guy a chance. “Clever.”

Nicole is quickly distracted by Waverly appearing in front of her as she slides another beer in Champ’s direction. He gives her a wink, but before she can stop to talk to Nicole, she’s pulled in another direction by someone else. Nicole tries not to show her disappointment, understanding that the woman has other obligations. 

“You’re not from around here,” Champ’s voice calls out to her. She quickly turns her head toward him. 

“No, but I hear this is the place to be on New Year’s Eve,” Nicole says, gesturing around the room. For a small town, there sure are a lot of people in the same place at once. 

“It sure is,” Champ says. He leans back in his seat, resting his hands behind his head as he nods in Waverly’s direction. “Especially with the special guest bartender.”

“Special guest?” Nicole asks, playing along. 

“She only bartends on New Year’s Eve to help her aunt out. I like to make an impression, we sort of, you know, date,” he tells her, not breaking his stare on the brunette. 

“Oh, do you now?” Nicole asks. She feels her face getting warm and knows it’s not because of the alcohol. She internally reminds herself to take another deep breath. She doesn’t want to make a scene, she assumes that’s not a great impression for her first visit. 

“Yeah, sorry, taken,” the man says, turning back toward the redhead. “But no offense, you’re not really my type anyway,” he says, nonchalantly, as he takes another swig of beer. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, causing Nicole to cringe. 

“Likewise.” 

The conversation thankfully fizzles out and Nicole tries to position herself at an angle where she doesn’t have to keep seeing Champ stare at  _ her  _ girl. Not that Waverly is her property. Or even actually her girlfriend. That wasn’t really something that had discussed yet, another purpose for this impromptu trip. Nicole couldn’t go another day without telling Waverly, in person, how she really feels about her. 

Lost in her thoughts, staring down at her drink that she has been slowly nursing as the night goes on, she hardly notices when Waverly leans on the counter in front of her. She sees a pair of hands graze her own and a smile grows on her face as she lifts her head to see hazel eyes gazing back at her. 

“Hey there,” the brunette says, her face beaming.

“Hi,” Nicole says through her smile. She notices Waverly hasn’t removed her hands yet, and she moves her thumbs to gently rub circles on the brunette’s skin. 

“Sorry if this is super boring for you,” Waverly says, apologetically. Nicole laughs when she sees Waverly’s face drop into a soft pouty lip. She thinks it’s really cute. 

“It’s okay,” Nicole says. “I met the town rodeo star,” she tells her with a laugh, gesturing toward Champ with her eyes. 

Nicole turns toward him when Waverly does, noticing he’s now surrounded by a couple other men, all hollering over something on the tv. Waverly rolls her eyes at them and turns back toward Nicole. 

“Did he say anything stupid?” She huffs. Nicole shakes her head at the brunette.

“Nothing I can’t handle, baby,” she replies with a wink. Her eyes widen a little and she wants to cover her mouth, realizing that she’s never called Waverly that nickname before. “Sorry, I mean-” she stutters. She furrows her brow in fear of the brunette’s reaction, but is quickly relieved at the smile she receives. 

Waverly gently squeezes her hand. “It’s okay,” she says, softly. “I like it,” she adds with a wink in Nicole’s direction. 

Nicole breathes a sigh of relief and the sudden urge to kiss the brunette takes over her. She leans in a little further toward her, but resists her urge while the other woman is working. 

“But I’ll also kill him if he says anything to you,” Waverly warns in the sweetest way possible. 

Nicole smiles and nods back at her. “I know.” 

“I have to keep working,” Waverly finally says, with a groan, as she looks around at people waving money in her direction like they want something to drink. Waverly rolls her eyes and looks back at Nicole, blowing her a kiss that Nicole pretends to catch and slide into her pocket for later. Waverly laughs and winks back at the redhead before turning around and continuing to work. 

  
  


|

  
  


As she turns back around, finally releasing Nicole’s hands from her grasp, she gives the redhead a quick wink. She notices Champ is once again looking at her, but the confused look on his face is a small victory for Waverly. She laughs to herself for a moment when he continues to look dumbfounded, eyes traveling back and forth between Waverly and Nicole. She’s unsure of what he said to Nicole, and she really doesn’t care what he thinks, but the thought of anyone saying anything bad to the redhead lights a fire inside of her that she never knew existed. 

She makes her way down to the other side of the bar, taking various drink orders from random townspeople that have made their way into Shorty’s for the night. It always blows her mind how busy they get on this one night of the year, but helping out her aunt for the night has always been fun for her. On this particular New Year’s Eve, however, all she can think about it spending time with the cute redhead at the other end of the bar. 

She finds herself stealing glances at Nicole whenever she can. At times she is looking up at the TVs above the bar, other times she’s staring off into the distance at people playing pool, or looking down at her phone. She even notices that she tries to make small talk with the people around her, which makes Waverly smile. She’s pleasantly surprised that someone is willing to sit in a bar, surrounded by people she doesn’t even know, just to be able to spend time with her. 

Waverly notices Champ and his friends finally make their way over to a pool table after a while. She takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly, relieved that he is no longer close to Nicole and able to say things to her that will make Waverly want to punch him. 

The orders continue to flow in and she finds herself running back and forth between the bar and the stockroom for what feels like the millionth time that night. She stops and takes a moment to herself in the back room, briefly enjoying the quiet, before making her way out into the chaos of the bar. She steals another glance at Nicole, but this time notices that she’s talking to someone sitting next to her. 

Narrowing her eyes, Waverly sees her sister sitting next to the redhead, arm draped over her shoulder. Curious, she quickly makes her way over to the pair, leaning her elbows on the bar in front of them. 

“Need refills?” She asks in a sweet tone. 

She glares as she looks directly at her sister’s arm that’s still draped over Nicole’s shoulder. 

Nicole looks back at her with a look that says she’s not sure what’s going on either. “Getting close,” the redhead says, waving her almost empty glass out in front of her. She takes another swig of the liquid, finishing the rest of it. 

Waverly smiles and places her hand on the glass, fingers brushing against Nicole’s. She feels a shiver run down her spine at the contact, making strong eye contact with the redhead. 

“Damn, I’m really gonna need this story,” Wynonna says, snorting out a laugh. “Because I don’t believe for one second that you guys just met last week!” 

Waverly laughs, breaking eye contact with the redhead and turning toward her sister. “Sometimes people get lucky,” she says. 

“Oh, I’ve gotten lucky,” Wynonna retorts. “But this is some romantic movie kind of shit!” 

Nicole laughs and shakes her head at the older Earp. Waverly slaps her sister’s hand, pushing it from Nicole’s shoulder. Nicole gives her a look, silently thanking her and Waverly nods back at her. 

“Maybe if you were around more often, I’d be able to tell you what goes on in my life,” Waverly says as she takes out a couple of bottles from behind the bar, pouring the pair new drinks. 

“Fair,” Wynonna says in return. Waverly is surprised her sister doesn’t try to come up with some excuse as to why she couldn’t be around sooner, but doesn’t push her any further. 

“And be nice to this one,” Waverly says, sliding the drinks toward her. “I like her a lot.” She gives the redhead a quick wink before turning to see if anyone else needs her. 

As she turns, she steals one more quick glance and smiles at the sight of Nicole and Wynonna talking. Despite her fears of her sister saying something that might scare the woman she likes away, she likes to see them at least getting along. Sure, Wynonna might not be around much, but Waverly does have to admit that she does care what her older sister thinks. And Wynonna has always been open about her opinions with Waverly, so part of her is worried that she’s going to tell her she doesn’t like Nicole. But at the same time, those thoughts quickly fade because how could someone not like Nicole? 

“So my dear,” the voice of Waverly’s aunt fills her ears. The brunette turns to see the grey haired woman setting a couple of glasses on the counter next to her before pouring drinks for a couple of patrons. “Have you changed your mind on singing tonight, or we still on?” She asks. 

Singing. Waverly forgot about singing. She’s suddenly nervous about the idea now that she sees how many people actually do fit inside the bar. She grits her teeth and nods back at the woman. Gus laughs softly. 

“You know there’s no pressure here, Waves,” she says, placing a comforting hand on the brunette’s shoulder. 

“I know,” the brunette says. She doesn’t quite make eye contact with her aunt yet. She looks around the room a little more. Most people seem to be pretty intoxicated at the moment. That could be a good thing, or a bad one. 

One one hand, they might not remember it if she gets up there and totally flops. What if she opens her mouth and no words come out? What if she sings the wrong words? Would anyone notice? What if she can’t think of anything to sing? 

On the other hand, singing to a drunk crowd might be more distracting. What if they holler things at her that make her fumble over the song? What if all she can see is a crowd full of disgusting, drunk men that she wishes would stop staring at her. 

She takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. She looks down at the redhead, who is laughing with her sister about something. The view of her smile eases Waverly’s nerves a bit, there’s still a pit in her stomach that doesn’t let up right away.

“I’ll be right back,” the brunette says, still not actually looking at her aunt. She pushes her way past the other bartenders as she makes a beeline for the bathroom. 

When she reaches the door, Waverly presses her hands flat against the wooden surface, pushing the door open. She’s relieved to see the bathroom is empty. She stands in front of the mirror, anchoring herself with her hands on the edge either side of the sink. She leans forward a little, noticing the lack of color in her cheeks. 

“Just breathe, Earp,” she says quietly to herself. 

Running a paper towel under cold water, Waverly presses it against her face, attempting to cool herself down. Despite the lack of color in her cheeks, she feels like she’s suddenly overheating. She hears the bathroom door swing open and quickly shuffles to throw the paper towel away, straightening herself up. 

She’s afraid to make eye contact with whoever just entered the bathroom, so she pretends to wash her hands for a moment before she hears them speak. 

“You okay?” Nicole’s voice is soft and full of concern as Waverly turns to see her standing in the doorway of the bathroom. 

Before she even knows it, Waverly’s feet carry her toward the door. When she reaches Nicole, she presses her face into her chest, wrapping her arms around the redhead’s middle. She feels Nicole immediately envelope her with her strong arms, no questions asked. They stand like this for a moment before Waverly speaks. 

“Sorry,” she finally says. 

“Hey,” Nicole says, softly. She pulls back a little to try to see Waverly’s face. The brunette remains buried in her chest for a moment before Nicole places a finger under her chin to tilt her head upward. “What did you say about apologizing when you did nothing wrong?” The woman asks with a dimpled smile that’s hard to resist.

Waverly cracks a smile back at her. “I’m nervous,” she admits. 

“What are you nervous about?” Nicole asks. Her grasp around Waverly’s body seems to tighten a bit, it’s comforting. 

“Singing.” 

Nicole’s face lights up for a moment. Waverly forgot to tell her that she planned on performing tonight. “You’re singing tonight?” She asks. 

Waverly nods, but cringes at the same time. “I think,” she says. “Gus told me I don't have to, but I want to, I’m just suddenly a little terrified.”

“Well what are you terrified about?” Nicole asks. She puts a little more space between the pair, arms still wrapped around each other, but now Waverly can fully see the woman’s face. 

“Mostly all of it.” 

“Okay,” Nicole says. She offers her a soft smile. “Well, let’s start with one thing at a time,” she suggests 

“Okay, being up on stage,” Waverly begins to list her fears about performing. 

“Where do you normally sing when no one is around?” Nicole asks. 

“The shower,” Waverly says with a laugh. 

“Okay, maybe not the shower,” Nicole says with a laugh. “Usually they tell you to picture the crowd naked, not yourself. Anywhere else?” 

“I’m pretty comfortable playing in my classroom,” she tells her. 

“Okay,” Nicole says. “Picture your classroom. You’re just singing to a bunch of bright eyed second graders!” 

“What if I forget the words?” Waverly groans. She leans her head forward into Nicole’s chest for a moment. 

“Then you have a kickass guitar solo in the middle until you remember them,” the redhead tells her. 

Waverly lets out an audible sigh. She appreciates the effort the redhead is putting in, she’s just having trouble getting out of her own head about it. “And if that doesn’t work?” She asks as she lifts her head to see Nicole’s face again.

“If you sing a song no one knows the words to, they won’t even know the difference!” The redhead laughs. “And to be honest, most of those people out there probably don’t remember the words to any song right now,” she adds, gesturing over her shoulder. 

Waverly laughs and pushes her a little. 

“But if all else fails, and it won’t, because you’re amazing,” Nicole adds, with confidence. “Then I’ll be right there and if you focus on me, I’ll get you through it.” 

Waverly pauses for a moment, heart racing at the sight of the soft, brown eyes looking back at her. She can’t help but smile at the thought of how comfortable she feels in the redhead’s arms. “Can I picture you naked?” She asks with a grin. 

“If that’s what helps,” Nicole laughs. 

“Thank you,” Waverly says, wrapping her arms a little tighter around Nicole. She buries her face into the redhead’s chest, feeling the woman kiss her on the top of the head. 

“You got this,” Nicole whispers. 

After another moment, Waverly pulls away from the hug, telling Nicole she should probably get back to work. She laces her fingers between the redhead’s, leading her back out into the bar. 

Lingering by the bar for a moment, she looks up at Nicole, wishing she didn’t have to go back to work. She feels the redhead’s finger move slightly, rubbing soft circles on her hand with her thumb. 

“I’ll be right over here,” Nicole says, gesturing toward a seat at the bar. 

Waverly smiles and nods. She’s never been one to be clingy toward others, but there’s something about Nicole that makes her just want to spend her time in her presence. 

She makes her way back around the bar, noticing her aunt staring at her. “I’m fine,” she says. She can tell by the look on her aunt’s face that she’s more concerned than angry that she just left for a little while. “I’ll sing.” 

“You’re sure?” The grey haired woman asks again. 

Waverly nods. “I’ll do it,” she assures her. She takes a deep breath in, pausing for a moment before she lets it out. 

“Then you’re on in twenty,” Gus says with a wink. Waverly glances down at her phone, checking the time.

“I’m going to go grab my guitar then,” she tells her aunt. “Will you guys be alright?” She glances over the bar once more, noticing that the crowd hasn’t changed much since she went into the bathroom.

“You’ve put in your time,” her aunt says with a wink. 

“No,” Waverly says, shaking her head. “I’ll still help,” she assures her. 

“Waverly,” Gus says, placing a hand on the brunette’s shoulder. “You’ve helped out enough, dear.” 

“But the night isn’t over,” Waverly argues. 

“No, but you’re night is just beginning,” the woman shoots her a wink. “You’ve been a lot of help tonight, Waverly, and now I’d like to give you the rest of the night to do what you want to do. And if you ask me, there’s a nice redhead sitting at the bar that would probably love to spend a little time with you tonight,” she adds, elbowing the brunette gently in the side. 

Waverly turns to see Nicole sitting next to Wynonna again at the end of the bar. She’s still a little uneasy of her sister having an influence on the woman she likes, but she does appreciate the effort Nicole is making to socialize with her family. 

“You’re sure?” She asks, turning back toward her aunt. 

“It’s your turn to get what you want this year,” Gus says, placing her hand on Waverly’s shoulder, squeezing it gently as she offers her a soft smile. 

“Thanks, Gus,” Waverly says, smiling back at her before she turns in the opposite direction. 

On her way around the bar, she sees Wynonna dragging Nicole by the arm. Nicole makes brief eye contact with Waverly and laughs, indicating that she at least doesn’t need Waverly to come stop her sister. 

“Want to join us in playing darts?” Wynonna asks as they stop walking halfway through the bar.

Waverly shakes her head. “I’d love to,” she tells them. “But I have to go get my guitar,” she says, gesturing above her toward her apartment. 

“Ooh performing tonight?” Wynonna asks in a sing song tone. “My baby sister has the voice of an angel,” she brags, throwing her arm over Waverly’s shoulder. 

Nicole laughs. “I know.” She flashes a dimpled smile in Waverly’s direction, making her melt. 

Waverly resists the urge to kiss the redhead, smiles back at the pair and tells them she will see them back downstairs in a little bit. Peeling her sister’s arm from her shoulder, she turns and heads toward her apartment. 

She quickly makes her way upstairs, pushing the door open. When she enters the room, she looks around at her apartment, realizing she probably should have cleaned it a little more earlier, but in her defense, she didn’t know Nicole was coming. 

She quickly runs around, realizing she still has a little bit of time before Gus is expecting her downstairs. She straightens up the apartment, making it a little more presentable, even though Nicole has already been upstairs. 

She makes her way into her bedroom, happy she had already made the bed that morning. She straightens up a few more things and moves back out to the living room where Nicole had discarded her bags near the couch. She grabs her bags and brings them into the bedroom, placing them on the chair on her desk. She smiles to herself at the thought of having the redhead staying with her, even if she’s unsure of how long it will be. 

Glancing at the time once more, she has a few more minutes to herself before she has to be back downstairs. A plan strikes her mind as she remembers Gus offering to let her have the rest of the night off after she sings. Sure, it’ll be fairly close to midnight by then, but at least she will have the rest of the night to spend with Nicole.

|

Nicole quickly finds out that Wynonna is really good at darts. She also finds out that she isn’t really that good at darts, but she enjoys it anyway. Part of her wishes she had been able to follow Waverly upstairs, stealing a little bit of time alone with her, but hanging out with Wynonna has been fun too.

She looks behind her, hoping that Waverly is about to show up in the bar again. “Damn, Haught, am I not enough for you?” Wynonna asks, causing Nicole to turn her attention back toward the older Earp. 

“Well, we just met,” Nicole teases as she turns back toward Wynonna. She watches as the brunette throws a dart, landing just shy of a bullseye.

“Bullshit!” Wynonna yells in the direction of the dartboard. She turns back toward Nicole and asks, “and how long have you known my sister?” 

Nicole shakes her head at the brunette and laughs. “Touché,” she says as she takes a swig of her drink. She lines up her hips, preparing to throw her first dart toward the board. Closing one eye, she aims to the best of her ability before releasing the dart to soar through the air, landing on the board with a small bang. 

The dart lands and Wynonna immediately runs up to the board as if she’s going to try to say it isn’t in the middle. “Sure, now you get a bullseye,” the brunette huffs as she makes her way back over to Nicole. Nicole laughs as she prepares to throw her second dart. 

This time the dart lands further on the outside, not even scoring any points. Wynonna glares at her like her bullseye shot was pure luck, which it was. She laughs as she watches the older Earp line up for her next shot. She has to admit, despite the directness and the huge amounts of social boundaries the woman has crossed throughout the day, Wynonna is really growing on her. 

As she watches Wynonna prepare to throw her second dart, Nicole feels someone come up behind her, arms wrapped suddenly around her waist. She turns with a smile as she inhales the scent of Waverly’s perfume. 

“Is Wynonna kicking your ass?” Waverly asks with a grin as soon as Nicole turns to see her face. 

“Did you know that was going to happen?” Nicole asks, raising an eyebrow to the brunette. She wraps her arms around Waverly’s small frame, looking down in her direction. 

“Well, I didn’t know your dart skills, but I know hers,” the brunette laughs. 

With a shake of her head, Nicole replies, “you set me up!” 

Waverly laughs. “I did not!” She pushes the redhead, playfully. 

Nicole smiles and leans in, capturing Waverly’s lips for a brief moment. She second guesses her decision, unsure if Waverly is really into public displays of affection, but she doesn’t seem to care by the way she quickly reciprocates the kiss. 

“You ready to sing?” Nicole asks when they pull back from the kiss. Waverly nods but Nicole can tell she still looks a little nervous. “You’re going to be amazing,” she says, pressing a kiss against the brunette’s forehead. 

Waverly nods again. “And you’ll be where I can see you?” 

“Front row, center if you want,” the redhead assures her. 

“That might make me more nervous!” Waverly says with a laugh. Nicole feels her bunch the fabric of her shirt in her fists a little. 

“Well, I’ll be out here,” Nicole says. “Look for me if you need me,” she adds with a wink.

“Thanks,” Wavery says softly. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she admits. 

“Me too.” 

“Waves, you ready?” Gus asks. 

The brunette nods and turns toward her aunt, dropping her arms from around Nicole’s body. Nicole misses the contact, but is excited to hear Waverly sing again. She gives the brunette a thumbs up before she turns fully and heads toward a small stage on the side of the bar. 

Throughout the night there were a few karaoke singers, but something tells Nicole that Waverly is going to blow them all out of the water. The sound of Gus’ voice on the microphone silenced the room within seconds. 

“Good evening everyone,” the woman begins. “First off, I wanted to thank you all for being here tonight. We love to ring in the new year with everyone and we’re glad this tradition has been going strong for so many years now,” she continues. “Curtis and Shorty would have been proud.” 

Nicole notices the sad looks on some of the faces of the townspeople. She’s never been a part of a small town, so it’s all new to her, but regardless of the appearance, it seems like a pretty tight knit community. 

“But now, I’d like to announce a very special guest,” Gus continues speaking into the microphone, all eyes are still on her. “I’m very blessed to have her in my life every day, and especially to have her help on this night every year. But now she’s going to bless all of us with a few songs to round off the night before we hit the new year!”

Cheers fill the room as Waverly makes her way up onto the stage, a nervous smile plastered on her face. She thanks Gus and gives the crowd a small wave as she takes a seat in the chair, lowering the microphone to her level.

“How is everyone?” she asks, voice shaking a little. Nicole stands a little taller, hoping the brunette will see her through the crowd, helping her ease her nerves a bit.

There’s more cheers in the crowd and a couple of catcalls, which causes Nicole to become a little frustrated, but Waverly seems to brush them off. The sound of the guitar starts to fill the air as a quiet falls over the crowd. Nicole watches as Waverly takes in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she begins to sing along to the music. She can’t help but smile at the woman, so grateful to have met her and be a part of her world.

As the song continues, Waverly’s eyes scan the crowd, stopping when she makes eye contact with Nicole. Nicole smiles at her, giving her a quick wink. A smile grows on the brunette’s face as she continues singing. The more she sings, the more confidence she radiates and the more the crowd starts to move to the beat of the music. Nicole couldn’t be more proud. 

She sings a couple of songs before speaking once more to the crowd. “Alright guys,” she says. “For my last song, I think I’ll sing a little traditional New Year’s Eve song. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their night and has a very happy New Year.” 

She starts strumming the guitar again, flashing Nicole another smile and a wink before she starts singing. 

_ “Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne?” _

The crowd remains fairly quiet, other than a low hum of some people talking to each other. Nicole narrows in her gaze on the brunette as she continues to sing.

_ “And auld lang syne? For auld lang syne my dear, for auld lang syne.” _

The world seems to disappear around her as she continues to focus on every word that falls from Waverly’s lips. Lips that she can’t wait to be able to kiss again. 

_ “We’ll take a cup of kindness, yet, for auld lang syne.”  _

Nicole momentarily breaks her stare on the brunette to look around the room a little. She sees Champ making some sort of inappropriate gestures, making his friends laugh. She cringes at them, but quickly moves on, looking in the direction of Waverly’s aunt. She hasn’t gotten the full story about Waverly’s family yet, but from what she knows, Gus has taken care of her most of her life. Nicole smiles at the look of pride on the grey haired woman’s face as she watches her niece sing.

Continuing to scan the room, Nicole catches a glimpse of Wynonna, who also looks proud. She knows that Wynonna isn’t always there for her sister, but Waverly still speaks highly of her. She may be often disappointed by her actions, but Nicole can tell that she’s still one of Waverly’s favorite people and because of that, Nicole wants to make sure she spends time with her as well. 

As the song comes to an end, the crowd erupts into cheers. Waverly stands from her seat, taking a small bow before she turns to head off the stage. Nicole makes her way through the crowd, standing at the edge of the stairs. As soon as Waverly’s feet hit the bottom of the stairs, her arms are wrapped around Nicole’s neck. Nicole smiles and lifts the brunette slightly off of the ground, spinning her around a little. 

“That was amazing!” Nicole tells her, arms still wrapped tight around her as she sets her back on the ground. 

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Waverly says, still grinning like she’s on cloud nine. 

“Oh, no that was all you,” Nicole says with a laugh.

“You helped more than you know,” Waverly tells her. Nicole can’t help but lean in, quickly capturing Waverly’s lips with her own. She places a few kisses on Waverly’s lips before she pulls away. 

“Do you have to get back to bartending?” she asks, hoping the answer is ‘no,’ but aware that the night isn’t quite over yet. 

“Actually, my aunt gave me the rest of the night off,” the brunette says, beaming. “So I was hoping you’d want to follow me,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at the redhead as she gestures over her shoulder.

“I’d follow you anywhere,” Nicole admits. 

“Oh man, be careful what you wish for, Haught,” Waverly says with a laugh as she takes Nicole by the hand and starts leading her through the crowd, toward the stairs to her apartment. 

“Wait, you’re taking my darts partner?” Wynonna’s voice calls out from behind them. They stop in their tracks and turn around to see the older brunette standing with her hands on her hips. 

“We weren’t really partners, you beat me four times,” Nicole says with a laugh. She found out the hard way that she really isn’t that good at darts. 

“Whatever, Red,” Wynonna huffs. “But Waves, you were amazing,” the older Earp says, hugging her sister.

“Thanks, Wynonna,” Waverly says. “And as for Nicole, she’s mine for the rest of the night, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she tells her as gives her sister a wink. 

“I’ve been replaced,” Wynonna groans, dramatically throwing her hands up in the air, letting them drop hard against her legs. 

“No,” Waverly says with a laugh. She looks up at the redhead, then back at her sister, grasping Nicole’s hand a little tighter. 

“I get it, babygirl,” Wynonna says, giving her sister a wink. “It’s okay.”

“Thanks,” Waverly says, softly. “Happy New Year, Wynonna.”

“Happy New Year, you two,” the older Earp says with a smile as they turn and head toward the bar. 

Waverly tells Nicole to stay where she is as she ducks behind the bar for a moment, heading into the back room. Nicole watches, wondering what she’s up to, but doesn’t ask. Waverly appears a few moments later with a bag in her hand. Nicole glances at it, but Waverly quickly moves it out of her sight. 

And with that, Nicole finds herself being dragged by the arm toward the brunette’s apartment. Waverly seems to be on a mission, not wanting to be stopped by anyone else on their way. She’s unsure what the brunette has planned, but knowing her, she assumes it’s something cute.

As they enter the apartment, Nicole stands in the kitchen, taking her shoes off by the door. She watches as Waverly shuffles a little further into the apartment, leaning her guitar against the wall. She glances over at the table to see two plates set up on the table with wine glasses and unlit candles in the middle.

“What’s all this?” Nicole asks, watching Waverly set the bag from her hand on the table, opening it to see its contents. 

“Date number.. I lose track,” Waverly laughs.

“It’s perfect,” Nicole says. 

“You don’t even know what it is yet,” Waverly huffs, smiling back up at the redhead as she starts to unload the contents of the bag. 

“It’s with you.” 

“So cheesy,” Waverly teases. 

“I thought you liked cheesy,” Nicole reminds her. 

“I love it,” Waverly replies. 

Nicole smiles and feels her cheeks becomes warmer. “So should I come in?” she asks, realizing she’s still standing in the entryway of the kitchen. 

“One second,” Waverly says. She pours wine into the glasses before she moves quickly over to the other side of the kitchen, pulling a lighter out of one of the drawers. She lights the candles on the table and quickly makes her way over to where Nicole is standing, switching off the lightswitch that is right behind her. “Now you can,” she tells her, gesturing toward the table. 

“Baby, it’s beautiful,” Nicole says as she moves toward the table. Waverly makes her way over to where Nicole is standing, leaning in quickly for a kiss. Nicole smiles into the kiss, still in awe that she’s able to kiss this woman right now. “Also, before we sit,” she adds. “I have something for you.” She looks around the room for her bags. 

“I put your bags in the bedroom,” Waverly says, gesturing in the direction of the room. Nicole nods and makes her way into the other room, quickly fetching something from her bag. She returns and hands the brunette a handmade card. 

“It’s from Lily,” she says, causing Waverly to laugh. The brunette takes the card from her, a huge smile on her face. “She insisted I bring it to you.” 

“This is adorable,” Waverly says as she examines the card. 

“I tried to help her spell your name but she insisted I was wrong,” Nicole says, gesturing to the butchered spelling of ‘Waverly’ on the front of the card. 

Waverly laughs and shakes her head. “It’s perfect,” she says. She makes her way over to her refrigerator, hanging the car up with a magnet before turning back toward Nicole. “Sit down,” she tells the redhead, pulling out a chair for her. Nicole nods and takes a seat in the chair. 

“You didn’t have to do all of this,” Nicole says as she watches Waverly take a seat in the chair across from her. “I’m not even sure when you had time.” 

“Well, the food, I had help from Gus,” Waverly admits as she starts to serve food onto the plates. “But I set up when I snuck upstairs to get my guitar,” she adds with a laugh. 

“You’re thoughtful. I know I just sort of sprung this on you,” Nicole says, still feeling a little guilty for not giving the brunette a little more of a heads up.

“Don’t apologize because I couldn’t be happier that you’re here,” Waverly assures her. 

Nicole breathes a sigh of relief. They spend the next half hour eating and chatting idly between each other. They find that even though they’ve been spending every free minute they have over the past week talking, they still never run out of things to talk about. 

Nicole smiles at the brunette, thinking about how easy it is to talk to her about anything and everything. She’s still surprised at how comfortable she’s become with her in such a short period of time, but she stops second guessing it and decided to just go with her gut on this one. 

The sound of loud cheering comes from beneath them. “That must be fun to listen to,” Nicole says with a laugh. 

“Normally it’s not so bad,” Waverly admits. “New Year’s Eve is the main exception,” she says. “But I’m normally downstairs.”

“Until I stole you away?” Nicole asks.

“I appreciate it,” Waverly admits. “Not that I don’t want to keep spending time with my aunt, but you’re all I’ve been able to think about since I met you.”

Nicole lights up at the confession. “I know the feeling,” she admits. “I only have one regret from last week,” Nicole says, placing her hand over the brunette’s hand from across the table. Waverly turns her head slightly like she’s listening more intensely. She squints her eyes in confusion. 

“You do?”

Nicole nods. A slow smile forms across her face. “My only regret is that I never officially asked you to be my girlfriend.” 

She watches as Waverly’s eyes widen. She’s unsure at first if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but the smile that soon follows eases her nerves a bit. 

“I know that isn’t the most ideal situation, it hasn’t been since the start. But it’s our story.”

“It’s a great story.” 

“If someone told me I’d walk into an airport two days before Christmas and find someone I’d want to be with, I’d tell them that they’re crazy. That was until I found you.” 

The smile on Waverly’s face grows bigger and is soon accompanied by tears in her eyes. They threaten, but don’t fall. 

The noise from below them increases as the sound of cheers floats up the stairs and into the apartment. Nicole glances at the clock to see its 11:59. 

“One minute until midnight,” she says with a smile. “I guess what I’m saying is,” she continues as she stands from the table. The brunette watches her as if she’s trying to get a read on what she’s about to do. Nicole walks around the table, reaching her hand out for Waverly’s. The brunette gives her her hand and stands from the table as well when Nicole guides her toward her. She’s quickly comforted by Waverly’s arms around her waist. 

“I guess what I’m saying is,” she repeats, quickly. “I know this is scary, and the future isn’t set in stone here, but when I look at you, Waverly Earp, I see something I’ve never seen in anyone else. I see this confident, beautiful woman. I see myself through your eyes in a way I’ve never seen me before. And above all else I see a future that I don’t want with anyone else.” 

Waverly smiles and pulls the redhead closer to her body. She doesn’t speak yet, allowing Nicole time to finish her thoughts that are currently racing through her mind. 

“I guess what time trying to say is…”

_ Ten!  _

_ Nine! _

The countdown below them booms through the apartment, cutting her off for a moment.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is…” she repeats, trying to continue her thought. 

_ Eight!  _

“I didn’t expect to fall in love with you, Waves, but I did and-”

_ Seven!  _

Her words are cut short by the brunette’s lips against her own. She gladly accepts the interruption from her babbling, hoping she didn’t say too much. 

_ Six!  _

The kiss continues to deepen, tongues brushing softly against each other. Time seems to slow down for a moment as they continue to hear the countdown below them. 

_ Five!  _

Nicole slides her hands to the back of Waverly’s head, fingers tangling in her long, wavy hair. 

_ Four! _

Waverly’s hands move from Nicole’s waist to her cheeks, cupping them gently. She feels the brunette pulling her closer as if she can’t get enough. 

_ Three!  _

The sound of premature noisemakers being blown below them starts to fill the apartment. It’s almost too loud to hear the rest of the countdown.

_ Two! _

Waverly finally pulls away, but only slightly, gasping for air. She presses her forehead against Nicole’s. Nicole slowly opens her eyes to see hazel eyes and a smile so big it could light up the night sky. 

__ One!   
  


“Happy new year, baby,” Waverly whispers. Nicole immediately takes the opportunity to recapture Waverly’s lips with her own. This time the kiss is slow and sweet, but perfect. 

When they part, all Nicole can do is smile back at the woman in front of her. She can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year and she’s unsure of a time when anything felt this right. 

“I thought you’re supposed to wait until after the countdown to kiss,” Nicole teases. 

“I couldn’t help myself,” Waverly admits, cheeks blushing slightly. 

“I didn’t mind,” the redhead admits. 

“Maybe that’s our new tradition,” Waverly says. She’s still standing so close to Nicole that the redhead can feel the woman’s breath on her lips when she speaks. 

“Starting to make out on seven?” Nicole asks with a laugh. 

“Yeah,” Waverly says with a smile. She softly brushes Nicole’s cheek with her thumb. 

“So was that a yes then?” 

“Was there a question there? Waverly asks in a teasing tone. 

Nicole thinks for a moment. All of the words that came out of her mouth in the last few minutes all blur together. She’s unsure if she even asked. 

“I know it’s a little crazy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. I’m not sure where this world is about to lead me, but as long as I have you, I know I’ll have it all. So will you be my girlfriend?” Nicole finally asks.

Waverly’s smile grows bigger and she nods her head. “Yes,” she says, almost in a whisper as she cups Nicole’s cheeks with her hands, pressing a hard kiss against her lips. 

The smile from Nicole’s face never fades as they sit down to finish eating. They talk about how long Nicole is staying and her plans to visit again. Nicole learns how much Waverly actually is a planner when she tries to set up a schedule for when they should FaceTime when they’re not physically together. 

Nicole teases her about not knowing what she was getting herself into before she asked her to be her girlfriend, but the entire time, she just can’t stop smiling. Her heart pounds in her chest with every word the brunette says. She might not know where the world is going to take her, but for the first time in her life, she feels like she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. 

“Oh, and Nicole?” The brunette asks as she takes the redhead’s hands in her own from across the table. Nicole finishes chewing a bite of food and looks into Waverly’s eyes. “I love you too.” 


End file.
